Matt Bevin: Founding Fathers ‘Very Involved’ In Cockfighting ‘And Always Have Been’ (Inquisitr)
Matt Bevin, the hedge fund manager and Tea Party member who is running for Senate in Kentucky to knock off the Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, has a weird idea of how Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington and the other founders of the United States of America spent their free time. “It’s interesting when you look at cockfighting and dogfighting as well,” said Bevin said in an interview on Louisville’s WHAS radio Thursday. “This isn’t something new, it wasn’t invented in Kentucky for example. I mean the Founding Fathers were all many of them very involved in this and always have been.”
Hong Kong Jockey Club Starts Direct Hedge Fund Allocations (Bloomberg)
Hong Kong Jockey Club began making direct allocations to hedge funds, said Jacob Tsang, director of group treasury at the city’s only horse-racing operator, which has invested more than $1 billion in alternative assets. It made its first two such allocations to Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC (OZM) and Millennium Management LLC recently, he said. In addition to controlling horse-racing in the city, the club operates authorized betting on football games and lotteries, according to its website.
Hedge funds’ leveraged bets on market rally to magnify sell-offs (Reuters)
Hedge funds are borrowing record amounts of money to fund bets that stock markets will continue rising, creating conditions that could accelerate price falls if those leveraged positions are hurriedly closed. Although global equities look set to advance for the remainder of the year, nervousness about the strength of China’s economy and the U.S. Federal Reserve’s plans to scale back its stimulus program could mean a rocky ride for markets. With equity leverage levels sitting at all-time highs, a mild retreat in stocks could morph into a sharp correction as investors faced with paying back the debt on top of taking a loss tend to sell out quickly when shares start to dip.
Loeb: ‘Failed’ board dragging down Sotheby’s stock (CNBC)
Call it the art of a Wall Street war. In a new letter sent to Sothebys (NYSE:BID) shareholders Friday, activist investor Dan Loeb said the art auction house’s stock slide is the result of what he called “failed leadership by the board of directors.” He claims the board has too little “skin in the game,” since it collectively owns less than 1 percent of the company, and that its members are “overly focused on short-term metrics.” Loeb’s New York-based hedge fund, Third Point, has put up a slate of candidates for the auctioneer’s board. He says the nominees “will bring fresh perspectives” to the company, which he says suffers from “poor corporate governance.”
Prosecutors Ask Federal Judge To Accept $1.8 Billion Plea Agreement With Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors (JewishBusinessNews)
Under the terms of the plea bargain SAC Capital agreed to pay a fine of US$900 million and accept an additional forfeiture of US$900 million, for a total penalty of US$1.8 billion. The Judge in the case, in the New York Southern District Court, Judge Laura Taylor Swain, did not automatically accept the arrangement, saying she wanted to further consider herself whether it was indeed appropriate. In the mean time resolution of the case has been held up pending the trials of two of SAC employee’s, Mathew Martoma and Michael Steinberg, who have since been individually found guilty of insider trading in separate cases. Steven Cohen himself has not been charged personally for engaging in any such insider trading practices.
Cartica Sues Billionaire Saieh Over Fraud In CorpBanca-Itau Merger As Hedge Fund Activism Arrives In Latin America (Forbes)
While the world of Wall Street is entertained by a rowdy band of activists including of Bill Ackman, Carl Icahn, and Dan Loeb, a different kind of battle has made its way to the New York courtrooms, involving Chilean billionaire Alvaro Saieh Bendeck and a DC-based hedge fund named Cartica Capital. The billionaire is accused of defrauding investors by “siphoning” special benefits from a merger deal between CorpBanca (NYSE:BCA) +1.67%, a publicly traded bank he controls, and Brazilian powerhouse Itau, at the expense of minority shareholders. Saieh, who is also accused of withholding information along with his board, has seen his net worth drop after the financial debacle of his retailer and supermarket chain SMU, which has been amassing losses and debt over the past few years.
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